Covering most of East Leeds

Mtwara Links

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For the past 18 months Caroline and Adrian Strain have been working in southern Tanzania. Adrian has been teaching secondary school teachers, helping to improve their spoken English and Caroline has taken a full part in local life in the small town of Mtwara, and helped in a local nursery.

Tanzania is one of the 20 poorest countries in the world. A huge proportion of the population exists on less than £1 a day and for lack of medicines and a healthy diet, thousands of children die from malaria. The United Nations accepts sustainable development for sub-Saharan Africa is through education. Great strides have been taken in recent years in increasing the numbers of children attending full-time school. Teachers need to be trained and quality of learning improved. Slowly, improvements are being made. And yet, close to where Caroline and Adrian live there are children who, whilst not orphans, spend their days foraging for food. They do not attend school because as well as having no money for food, they have no school clothes or shoes and could not pay for a pen a book or a stool to sit on (in Tanzania school students pay towards the cost of their stool!).

To help in a practical ways, Caroline and Adrian have formed a small charity called Mtwara Links. HSBC in Crossgates has offered a bank account and with family members looking after things in the UK, Caroline and Adrian will return to Tanzania next month with a simple plan to sponsor a small number of children with food and clothing, enabling them to go to school; and with collecting and distributing used books for schools. Mary Brooksbank (msbrooksbank@gmail.com) will to coordinate the collection and shipping of used books; and Catherine Evans (candkevs@yahoo.com) has agreed to serve as Treasurer of the small charity. For more information and ways in which you might be able to help go to www.mtwarlinks.com. Donations can be made to Mtwarlinks c/o HSBC, Sort 40-27-33 Acc No. 21525409. For more information, please contact Adrian or Caroline on the phone numbers given in the bulletin.